Pathological symptoms of bladder storage such as urgency, frequency and nocturia are characterized as overactive bladder (OAB). Interstitial cystitis (IC) on the other hand transcends mere urgency to include symptoms of bladder pain along with increased urinary frequency. Overactive bladder presents as an increased voiding frequency and may be the result of infection or injury to the bladder tissue itself, e.g., interstitial cystitis, or may arise as a comorbid association to conditions such as stress, anxiety disorder, endometriosis, vulvodynia, chronic fatigue syndrome, or fibromyalgia, among other conditions.
In both IC and OAB, increased afferent signals are conducted by myelinated Aδ-fibers and the unmyelinated C-fibers. Typically the C-fibers mediate painful mechanical, thermal and chemical sensations and this signaling requires action potentials that are initiated and maintained via activated sodium channels. Therefore, targeting the sodium channel mediated conduction of action potentials in bladder C-fiber afferent nerves may be a therapeutic approach for the treatment of OAB and IC (Steers, 2002, Rev. Urol., 4 Suppl 4:S7-S18). In an animal model of IC and OAB, blocking the conduction of afferent signals with the sodium channel blocker lidocaine, normalizes the micturition pattern as determined by cystometry (Juszczak, 2009, J. Physiol. Pharmacol. December, 60(4):85-91). Similarly, mexilitine prevents the painful sensation of noxious urinary bladder distention (Su, 2008, Neurourol. Urodyn., 27(3):249-53). Unfortunately neither lidocaine nor mexilitine offer therapeutically tractable options for patients with these bladder conditions due to the fact that their beneficial effects are short-lived.
There remains a need in the art for compounds which are useful in treating painful bladder conditions such as interstitial cystitis and overactive bladder.